The ‘First and Only’ Metastatic Lung Cancer Immunotherapy is approved

Roche’s Genentech has received FDA approval for an immunotherapy targeting the highly sought-after PD-L1. The treatment may be able to outperform its competitors in lung cancer therapies.

In May, Roche received approval for Tecentriq (atezolizumab) in bladder cancer. Now, the drug is expanding its indications to become the first and only cancer immunotherapy in the market to target the checkpoint inhibitor Program-Death ligand 1 (PD-L1) in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

PD-L1 is a tumor protein that can bind to T-cell PD-1 receptors to inhibit the immune response. Tecentriq inhibits PD-L1 to enhance the ability of the immune system to attack cancer cells. Roche’s new therapy can prolong the patients’ life a median of 4 months longer than chemotherapy, which is an important step forward in patient care.

However, Roche’s main competitor in NSCLC will be MSD’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab), which has shown a similar increase in life expectancy. But while Keytruda is only indicated for PD-L1-positive patients, the Phase III trials for Roche’s Tecentriq proved the new drug effective in all patients. This puts an end to one of the key challenges of checkpoint inhibitor therapies, which usually only affect patients with high levels of the target molecule.

By targeting a wider range of patients that includes metastatic tumors, will Roche outperform Keytruda’s €500M in sales last year and make it to the top best-selling biologicals?

My mother has been diagnosed with nsclc. I am trying to get basic information as to where she would be able to get potential immunotherapy treatment including the one with Tecentriq. As my mother is based in Croatia and immunotherapy treatments have not been approved there yet we would have to do it in private arrangement in another EU country. Hence it would be of great help not only to know where one could get such a therapy but also to know if there are medical institutions in Europe where my mum could participate in trial runs in order to mitigate the costs, which I hear could be extremely high.

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